Ashton Thomas and the Legend of Pandora
by PhoenixLoganSummers
Summary: Several years have passed since Percy banished the Titans and it is time to make way for a new generation of Gods. As the Titans rally their forces once more and demons start to spill out of hell itself, can three boys band together and save us all? Or are we doomed to fall under the might of the Titans? (Possible Percy and Annabeth appearances later)
1. How it Started

I woke with a start. I was drenched in cold sweat and shaking hard. I was lying on a wooden floor in a small cabin that had more people than it did space. There on my right were my twin brothers Bobby and Jake. Being careful not to wake anyone I stood up and walked to the door, the clock next to it said it was about 4 in the morning, but the dark had never scared me so I went outside. It was early summer and the air was thick and heavy, the skies were clear but I somehow knew they wouldn't be for long. I walked towards the woods and started to climb the nearest tree, for some reason I enjoyed being alone and in the tree with the sound of birds singing, I was finally alone with my thoughts. I shivered and wondered why I hadn't taken a coat with me, even thought it was summer, it was still a bit chilly and short pyjama bottoms and a vest weren't going to help. I stared out at the 12 cabins all lined up in a row and tried to remember who they belonged to. I thought of my mum back in New York and wondered if she'd be ok without me and Bobby and Jake. We were all she had, but then I thought logically, nobody messed with my mum, she was tough as nails but so much more beautiful. I'm not surprised she enticed a God.

So let me explain, this is a camp for demigods, which are basically kids of Gods. We had never been good at school but when we started high school it got a bit more hectic. We're 14 years old and we've been to 4 schools in 4 years. Something out of our control always seems but we always get the blame. I mean it's not like we meant to put the big bottle of acid next to out teachers car, or drop the Bunsen burner on the table and burn down the science block. We got expelled anyway. We had just been chucked out of this 'special' school and we had to walk home, because mum was at work, and some boys came round the corner in hoods, now hoodies in New York are bad. So we tried to cross the street and all that to try and avoid them but they crossed the street too and I started to realise that they were coming for us. I told Jake and Bobby to run for it, and we did, for about 5 metres until another group appeared and cornered us into a deserted alleyway. I thought they were just normal gangsters, you know, 'gimme ya money' type. But oh no. we get stuck with the giant punch us up and kill us type. When it looked like we were done for sure, a boy came running down the alleyway with a sword in his hand. Yeah, a real sword and slashed the giants to pieces. Well not really he sliced them once and they turned into dust. Then a girl came running down the alley and a boy followed her panting. Then the boy clicks something on the bottom on the sword and it turned into a pen, he just tucked it into his pocket and came towards us as if slashing monsters up was the most normal thing in the world. He held out his hand, "I'm Oscar, this is Josie" he pointed to the girl, "and this is Franklin" the other boy waved at us. I went towards him, "Yeah well, lovely to meet you and all but we really ought to get going, right boys?" I turned back to Bobby and Jake, they nodded. Oscar stared at us, "You can't go, you have to come with us" he said sternly.

"Yeah, course, come on boys" and we tried to make a dash for it but the boy called Franklin caught us,

"Where you going to boys?" I was struggling with Franklin,

"Let me go, I'm not going anywhere with you" The girl came up to me, her eyes were so calm and he seemed to make everything better, I stopped struggling. "It's ok, we're not going to hurt you, we're going to take you somewhere safe, away from monsters like those giants you just saw. They'll keep coming after you until they kill you" My mind seemed to clear a bit,

"But why are they trying to kill us?" I asked, the girl touched my hand and sent a shiver through my body. "Because, because" she seemed to choke on the words, "because you're a demigod and your strong" she blurted out.

"WHAT?" Me, Bobby and Jake all said at once.

"Hold on" I said, breaking free of Franklin's grip, "very funny, where are the cameras? Bring out the producers, ya got us." Josie stared at me quizzically,

"What are you on about? This isn't a joke. Now come on before something else finds us" She seemed to be really worried, she had an intense fear in her eyes and I was starting to believe it. "You mean your not joking? Hang on your just teasing me now, if I'm a demigod then who's my 'god' parent then? "

"Ummmmm, I don't know, you have to be claimed," she replied, "now come on" and she ran towards the road. She pulled something gold out of her jean pocket and threw it on the pavement muttering something I couldn't make out. Oscar and Franklin pushed us towards the road, "Come on" Josie said urgently, "It will only be here for a minute"

"What will?" I asked, but all I got in reply was another shove. As I watched a layer of mist formed just above the road and shimmered, Josie smiled at us and jumped through it, she vanished. I couldn't believe it. Then Franklin jumped through and vanished. I shook my head in disbelief. "Come on then" Oscar said and pushed us through the mist. It was the weirdest sensation in the world, at first it felt just like jumping through mist, but then it felt like you were falling, sliding almost, down an invisible slide. Then I hit hard ground with a thump, then two other thumps landed on top of me. "Get off of me" I hissed at Bobby and Jake, throwing them off my back. Oscar landed next to us brushing dust off his jacket. "Welcome to camp!" Josie beamed at us, so did about 40 other kids. We were put in Hermes cabin because he is a friend to all or something like that. You had Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Hermes, Apollo, Aphrodite, Ares, Athena, Demeter, Hephaestus, Dionysus and Artemis. People who didn't know who their God parent was, was put in Hermes cabin. Hades didn't have a cabin because, well just because think what would happen, (at least that's what I've been told) and Hades never had any kids anyway, does he?…. Hestia doesn't have a cabin either because she gave up her seat in Olympus for Dionysus. Artemis' cabin is always empty because she is supposed to be the virgin god since Hestia stepped down. In Zeus' cabin you have Talia and her brother Thomas, in Poseidon's you have Oscar. Hera has Juliet, Franklin and William, Apollo has Georgia and her brother Jasper. Aphrodite has Dominique, Brooklyn, Mia and Adelaide, Ares has Claire, George and Nick. Athena has Josie and her twin brothers Callum and Joel, Demeter has Aspohel, Rose and Daisy. Hephaestus' cabin is empty as all his children are in the forges, Dionysus is too drunk to have kids and Artemis cabin is of course empty. Children of Hermes are Harry, Aaron, their sister Tiffany and Daniel. People living there are Me, Bobby and Jake. I had been up in the tree for so long it was now light and the breakfast bell was going, so I scampered down from the tree and ran to the cabin, nearly knocking over a nymph as I did so.


	2. I make a Powerful Enemy

Bobby looked fine and Jake looked ok , if a little pale. It was the first full day we had had at the camp and we were eager to explore. In the sword fighting arena, Franklin was demonstrating how to disarm an opponent. I was on my own and he came over. "Hey, you wanna have a go?" I stared at him,

"You're offering to give me a sword, how stupid are you?" He laughed and jumped into the arena.

"We'll take it slowly, no chopping off limbs yet" He grinned at me, I couldn't resist. I jumped down and grabbed a sword. I wasn't much good and I didn't expect the sword to weigh so much. I managed to lop off a few of the dummy's fingers but that was it. After an hour I was dripping in sweat and decided to call it a day. I went around the various activities, apart from archery I didn't trust myself, having a go and trying to not break anything. At dinner we sat in our cabins around a campfire and gave an offering of food by throwing into the campfire. I leant over to Luke and asked what I was supposed to do as I didn't know who to offer to, "Oh, we offer to our God parent" I looked at him

"But I don't know who my god parent is"

"Well then just offer to all gods or ask to be identified"

"Oh ok then" It was my turn, I walked up with a slice of bread and murmured something like 'thank all gods' and 'make me identified'. As I was walking back Claire from the Ares table tripped me up, "Oh sorry Ashy, didn't notice you there seeing as you are undetermined" The way she was saying it was making my blood boil. But she hadn't finished, "I bet they've got it wrong, I bet your not even a demigod, I've seen you trying everything you can, you can barely hold a sword, you wouldn't even try archery you were so scared." I was starting to lose control, she couldn't be right, they had said we were demigods and that we were strong. I turned to her "They said I was a demigod, and that I was strong and so is Bobby and Jake" I added gesturing at my brothers. The way Claire laughed made me feel as though she had just punched me in the stomach. "Well come on then little hero, prove that you are a 'strong' demigod. We'll have a quick game shall we" I looked at her, I had to prove myself

"Yes" She smiled.

"Good, its dark now so I'll fire a little colourful pebble that explodes colour when you hit it, sit on Aphrodite's cabin and I'll throw it from Hermes' cabin. Agreed?" I stared at her.

"No way! It's dark and they're on opposite sides and I've never held a bow before, let alone fired one." Claire smirked, "Well that proves your not worthy to be here then doesn't it." I didn't know what took hold of me but… "I'LL DO IT" I screamed in her face. The smiled seemed to fade from her face, but only for a moment, "Good, I'll just get the pebbles" and she stalked off into the darkness. Harry took me by the arm and we went to get a crossbow and arrows. While I was looking for one he turned to me "Either your really stupid or you're pretending to be"

"Why am I stupid?" I asked

"Because these little pebbles are hard to see in the light of day, let alone at night and you're far away from it as well, your just going to embarrass yourself, and you've never held a bow in your life?"

"No" I muttered,

"Well then" he said spreading out his arms "She'll crush you" I had found a bow I liked so I grabbed some arrows and stalked off.

When I got back to the campfire I saw someone who could only be the camp director, he scowled when he saw me coming and wandered over to me. "So THIS is the great and mighty IDIOT?" All the Ares kids laughed along with a few others. I ignored him and walked over to the Aphrodite cabin, Claire was already on the Hermes cabin with her slingshot. Another man had appeared at the base of the cabin but it was hard to make out what he looked like. I aimed my bow in the kind of direction I hoped Claire would aim the pebble. "3, 2, 1 ANDDDDDD FIRE" I couldn't see anything but I seemed to connect with the bow, it was like it was guiding me, and suddenly I released the bow without meaning to, there was a moment of silence and then… "AHHHHH, WOW… HOW CAN HE DO THAT?" The sky lit up with a dazzling red that seemed to travel for miles around. Claire didn't seem satisfied though because as soon as the colour died she screamed again "3, 2, 1 ANDDDDDD FIRE" Once again the bow guided me and released it at the exact moment, this time the sky was a pale blue. I was amazed at my own abilities, or the abilities of the bow rather. I clambered off the cabin amidst cheers of my fellow campers. The camp director stalked over and grabbed me by the shoulder, "Well" he exclaimed, "Looks like we're going to have some more competition in Apollo's archery." I looked quizzically at Harry but he just waved at me. I had finally mustered up the courage to ask the camp director who he was, seeing at I was in his good books, "Umm, excuse me?" He tuned back to me,

"Yes?" The way he was staring at me made me want to vanish right there and then

"I just wanted to know…" I swallowed hard,

"Yes?" He repeated gritting his teeth, the whole camp was staring at me now,

"I just wanted to know who you were!" I said really quickly, and then immediately wished I hadn't, I wondered if he was going to hit me, but then his face lightened and he smiled at me, but only for a moment. "Well my boy, I am a son of Zeus, my name is Artemis, but everyone calls me Art." I couldn't stop myself from laughing, his face hardened again and he stared at me.

"What?" he asked "What, what's wrong?" He looked confused. I looked at him,

"Well it's just, it's just, that you have, have the same name as a , as a girl god, and that girl god is your sister" and I burst out laughing again. The looks he was giving me gave me the impression he wanted to tear me apart. After a few minutes I managed to swallow my hysteria with a few hiccups. "Well after that little outburst let's all go back to the campfire, and it's half-sister actually" he hissed in my ear before stomping off towards the fire. I felt kinda bad about embarrassing Art in front of the whole camp, but I couldn't help it. I was dejectedly following the group back to the campfire when the guy I couldn't quite make out came up to me. He had a shock of red hair and was a little taller than me. His eyes were green and glassy, he looked about 30, but as I'd already learnt, looks can be deceiving. I didn't know what to say to him so I must have looked like a bit of an idiot standing there with my mouth going up and down like a goldfish. He broke the tension by smiling at me and saying, "Good show up there, haven't seen shooting like that for a long time. I think you might be a child of Apollo, but then again I've learnt to not judge the gods and the ways in which they move." I wasn't quite sure how to follow this up so I just nodded and looked interested. But he wasn't finished, "and don't worry about Art, he's just a bit grouchy at the moment" I looked at him,

"You don't say" He laughed and shook his head,

"You're a strange one Ash, I haven't seen a godling act like this before" I stared at him,

"How am I acting differently?" I said, rather defensively. I think he saw my face and he suddenly

changed his words, "No, no, no I didn't mean it like that, I meant it like, I've never seen anyone pick

up a bow for the first and shoot those little pebbles to smithereens before, it's a accomplishment not to

be sniffed at" I was feeling pretty good about myself,

"So, What else can Apollo do?" I asked nervously, I didn't want to hear he fed bunny rabbits and

knitted scarves like an old granny. "Oh, I'm not saying you're a son of Apollo, I'm just saying there's a

good chance as Apollo and Artemis' archers are the best. Well we'd better be going before Art comes

and shouts at us" and he walked off. I sat there with my thoughts for a moment before I realised I didn't

know his name. I ran after him and by the time I had caught up with him I was panting hard. "What's,

what's, what's your name?" I managed to splutter out.

"Oh" he looked slightly taken aback, "my name is Linus, but everyone calls me Link. Now come on."

And with that he jogged off towards the campfire, Linus, the name seemed familiar to me but I couldn't

remember where from.

Around the campfire the rest of our group were throwing their offerings into the fire before returning to

their seats. Over at the Ares table Claire was glowering and her two cabin mates, George and Nick were

giving me evil glares. Bobby and Jake came over and sat down next to me, "Soooooo, what's up?" I looked up at them, "There's nothing wrong," they pulled a face at me

"Honestly Ash, we're triplets, we know when something's going down, and I don't need to be a mind

reader to see there's something wrong because your face is longer than a French fiddle!" I looked

quizzically at them, "is a French fiddle long?"

"I dunno it's just an expression, I've never seen, heard of, or played a French fiddle before." We could be about to be plunged into a pit of boiling lava and they would still be able to make me laugh.

Bobby had light brown, fluffy hair and sea green eyes, Jake's hair was a shade darker and his eyes were really dark. Then there was me, I had blue eyes and jet black hair, I don't think we look anything alike but I've been told by various people that we have similar attributes. They had been staring at me the whole time and it seemed they had been reading my mind because Jake said, "We can't do everything better than you, you saw that arrow you shot, we could never do that in a million years, and your not that ugly, your eyes are good and your hair is cool." I smiled, "Yeah, I guess my hair is pretty cool"

"Yeah, your hair is cool, but ours is better" and they burst out laughing. I turned away from them, stating my intent that I didn't want to talk to them, but they was never very good at reading signs and they continued to talk. " But I'm being serious, you are kinda good-looking, but you're my brother so that's the best your going to get out of me." and they turned to some boys sitting on there other side and began to chat to them. That was when Art decided to do announcements, "Hello, hello everybody just quick we now have our new archer Mr Ash Thomas" he deliberately pointed me out to everyone, but most people cheered and Luke slapped me on the back. Art had not finished though, "as most of us now know Oscar, Talia and Thomas have gone on a quest to save everyone's lives etc, etc. But on the bright side if they succeed then that means a party at Mt. Olympus. Hurray, hurray. Now off to bed." He clicked his fingers and the food vanished. Link stood up and cleared his throat, Art looked up,

"You have something to say Mr Link?" Link nodded his head,

"Please could Mr Ash Thomas follow me please?" My stomach seemed to vanish instead me, he

couldn't possibly want me, I started to stutter but Link beckoned me away and I had to follow, I took

my bow with me and followed Link into the woods. I followed him for about 20 minutes before he

finally stopped in front of a tree and turned to me, "Ash, I know you think your normal, but your not" I

stared at him in horror, I was utterly speechless "How can you say that, you don't even know me" I was

starting to get angry, but Link wasn't finished,

"Your not supposed to be here Ash, you don't belong here, Claire was right, I'm not even sure you are a

demigod, your weak, that bow had a spell on it so that it hit anything the holder wanted it to." My

blood was boiling now, but hadn't he defended me earlier, told me I was special. He was probably

having a joke. I tried to laugh, but he cut me off, "This is no laughing matter Ashton Thomas, you don't

belong here" I had had enough, I threw down my bow and ran, I didn't no where I was going but I just

ran, trees whipped my face and tree roots tripped me up. I heard someone calling my name in the

distance, Link probably. But I didn't care anymore, I ran for at least 15 minutes never stopping to rest.

By the time I had reached a clearing my legs were like lead and my throat was burning, I heard a noise

in the distance but I couldn't move. There was a shot of pain in my neck but I was so tired I hardly

noticed. I heard a noise in trees just behind me, so I tried to stand and I had moved about 3 steps when

everything went black.


End file.
